Paris M.

Where do I begin?!

The Covid Pandemic has been great for Storage Treasures! Fifteen to Twenty Thousand auctions a month must equate to millions of dollars in fees!

Now to the review: The bottom line is there is ZERO buyer protection for the bidders! If you like inflated prices, staged units, dealing with shill bidding, facilities cancelling auctions when prices are too low, facilities cancelling auctions after you win and your card is charged for the fees, and basically no chance to get a deal unless you want to pay retail or above then this is the site for you!

I've been following this site for years and have grown to enjoy watching units in the Seattle area balloon to outrageous prices every month. A lot of the times I see these auctions re-listed and going for less money then the previous month. I tried really hard to win some units this month and was not successful after bidding on 15 units. I received 5 phone calls from Storage Treasures customer service regarding second change offers (I declined them all). The so generously give you an option to by the unit at your max bid! For example one unit sold for $1,060 before fees and taxes. I had a max bid of $590 and they offered me the unit for that price. I asked them at what point did the high bidder (shill bidder) start bidding me up? If he started bidding me up at $350 then that it was I would be willing to pay. If he defaulted then why do I have to pay what he bid me up to? They didn't like that question and hung up the phone on me. With no history of who is bidding it seems to me that shill bidders, Storage Treasure employees, unit owners, or facility managers could be bidding the units up? Why not because if they go too far they know a "second chance offer" can be utilized.

This business model is perfect for the money hungry / greedy folks at Storage Treasures! I'm beginning to wonder if it can sustain itself into the future for several reasons. 1. I think buyers are getting tired of getting burned. 2. The facilities are not moving their units fast enough because many buyers are not claiming their units. 3. Storage Treasures may get shut down due to FRAUD.

If there was better buyer protection I could get excited about online auctions, but there is too much shady activity going on for me to consider paying these premium prices to buy units.

I miss the days where you could visit and auction, interact with buyers, and get a good deal while helping out your local facility. I can't wait to see this online system crash and burn!